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I have a little problem. I'm addicted to cookbooks, food writing, recipe collecting, and cooking. I have a lot of recipes waiting for me to try them, and ideas from articles, tv, and restaurants often lead to new dishes. I started losing track of what I've done. So now I'm taking photos and writing about what I've prepared—unless it's terrible in which case I forget it ever happened.

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Friday, May 15, 2009

When I read Sunday Suppers at Lucques, there was a handful or so of recipes that I wanted to experiment with as soon as possible, and this was one of them. This tart is the second item I’ve tried from the book so far, and the greens we’re getting from our CSA were the inspiration for it. Now, Kurt is perfectly happy with a vegetarian meal here and there, but the deluge of greens we sometimes have can make him want to be a strict carnivore. At some point, he begs for a greens-free meal, and that means I have to get creative with how they’re incorporated into dishes. This tart worked perfectly and happily was not an eat-your-vegetables experience. Instead, this was an oh this is good, and oh by the way, those are greens aren’t they kind of meal. In other words, this tart combines great flavors that work really well together.

In the book, it’s described as a swiss chard tart, but I had beet and collard greens to use. Those were cleaned and chopped and sauteed in olive oil with shallot and thyme. I’ve used Whole Foods’ all butter puff pastry with good results a few times now, and that’s what I used here. The puff pastry was thawed and then just unfolded onto a baking sheet. No rolling was required. That was topped with a mixture of ricotta, egg yolk, olive oil, creme fraiche, and salt and pepper. Goat cheese was crumbled on top of that. Then, the cooked and cooled greens were squeezed to remove liquid and then spread on top of the cheese mixture and were topped with more crumbled goat cheese. It was baked for 25 minutes while the relish was assembled. The pastry with cheese and greens was a great start, but what really made this dish was the currant pine nut relish. Pine nuts were toasted and set aside. Olive oil was heated in a saute pan and a rosemary sprig and a dried chile de arbol were added. Minced onion went into the pan, stewed for 10 minutes, and then was transferred to a small bowl. The saute pan was then used to reduce a quarter cup of balsamic vinegar down to one tablespoon. Meanwhile, currants were plumped in hot water and then drained. The bowl of sauteed onions was mixed with the toasted pine nuts, plumped currants, and reduced balsamic, and chopped parsley was added.

The richness of the ricotta and creme fraiche was fanastic with the greens. And, this could, of course, be made with milder spinach, but let me tell you about the relish first. The currant pine nut relish with the sauteed onions and reduced balsamic vinegar was such a perfect complement to the greens, I would recommend using the boldest flavored greens you can find. The layers of sweetness and spice and the hint of acidity mingled with the bitterness of the greens in amazing ways. Instead of making this to use up some greens, in the future, I’ll be making this because it’s really delicious.

How I love beet greens! And what a good idea for incorporating greens into things....Rob looked a little forlornly at all the chard I planted this year - won't he be happily surprised when some is cooked up into this!

Hey Lisa, I actually just made a very similar tart (mine did have chard) and I'm going to post about it soon. But my experience with puff pastries is that they're always greasy. I know it's the shortening or butter that makes them crisp up, but I'd love to know how you found the Whole Foods tart - I want to experiment a bit more before I post.

Yeah, I've just got to pay more attention to that book. It's on my second string bookshelf and I think it's time to rotate it. The tart sounds divine and I want to just eat it right off the screen. For some reason, my Whole Foods doesn't carry that their own brand of puff pastry. All they have is some Australian one that is not all-butter. I'm going to look for an all butter one at Trader Joe's because I really want to make this.

This looks amazing with all the flavors and textures going on. One of my favorite side dishes is a simple sautee of greens and pine nuts. I just love it. But this tart is even more special with the cheese and creme fraiche.

mmm... pine nuts and goat cheese is one of my favorite combinations. well, to be honest, just pine nuts on their own are already great. and the beet greens sound great, I've never cooked with them myself, but always wanted to try. I'll have to see if I can get them here.